The State Street Area Art Fair is a nationally recognized and award-winning art fair that combines the talents of 315 artists along the vibrant streets of Ann Arbor's campus area. Located in the heart of the city, it is one of four fairs celebrated at the same time each July creating the largest outdoor art fair experience in the nation. This year's event will mark the forty-sixth year of a very successful show presenting a complementary mix of both contemporary and fine artists of the highest quality.

Rules and Standards

In an effort to provide the highest quality show possible, all artwork exhibited must be original work, done by the Artist. NO work from molds, kits or other commercial methods is allowed. The State Street Area Art Fair prohibits the exhibition or sale of any commercial reproductions of Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Digital Art, Photographs or any other fine art media (including offset reproductions which have been hand colored), Commercial processes prohibited include Photo Offset, Letterpress, Giclée Prints, Commercial Publication or Gravure in the booth display. If you handcraft the plates, stone or screen, the printed result is considered an Original Multiple, to be properly registered, signed, and numbered. Editions of a single work must not exceed 250, and must be signed and numbered by the Artist. Photographers shall make prints from their original negatives, processed by themselves. All photographs must be signed and numbered by the Artist in a limited edition, not to exceed 250. Digital Art should be signed and numbered on archival quality materials in editions not to exceed 250. All Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Prints, Digital Art and Photographs must be framed or matted and displayed in a suitable portfolio or stand. Each 2-D artist (Painting, Drawing, etc.) is allowed one bin inside their booth of reproductions during the show. Ceramics must be handmade and individually designed by the Artist. No works made from Commercial kits, molds, patterns, stencils or prefabricated forms are allowed. Jewelers shall not use any commercially fabricated forms or settings. Only artists accepted in the Jewelry category may display and sell jewelry. Leatherworks shall not be crafted using machine tooling, machine-screened patterns or other forms of mass production. Artists must represent their own work and be present the entire four days of the Fair. No agents allowed. Artists may not exhibit in any of the other fairs in Ann Arbor that take place at the same time as the State Street Area Art Fair. Submitting this application is a commitment to Fair rules.

All applications must be completed no later than March 1st. Late applications must be completed by March 15, 2014. Notification of results will be made early April, 2014. All application fees are non-refundable.

Jury & Selection Process

Acceptance and reinvitation to the State Street Area Art Fair is determined in two phases by a jury made up of nine arts professionals. Their decisions are both relative and competitive, and are based on creativity, technical skill, presentation, and adherence to Fair rules.

Jurying for new Artists is done anonymously (applicants are assigned a number), and is based entirely on the digital presentation submitted by each applicant. During the screening, all five of an applicant’s images are viewed simultaneously by the entire jury, and are considered both in relation to other applicants in that same medium/category as well as in relation to all applicants to the Fair. There are no quotas for individual categories.

During the Fair, each Artist's work is evaluated by an on-the-street jury. Based on their scores (using the same criteria as for slide jurying), Artists are either reinvited for the following year, or must reapply should they wish to exhibit again. For either phase of the jurying, Artists will be notified of their acceptance/reinvitation, non-acceptance, or wait-list status ONLY. Individual critiques and jury scores will not be provided, and all decisions of the jury are final. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Application Fees

There are two Application Fees:

Standard - $50 per category if completed by March 1, 2014

Late - $75 per category if completed NO later than March 15, 2014

The non-refundable application fee must be submitted by March 1st for each category application submitted. No applications will be accepted after the March 15th deadline.

Booth Information and Fees

Artists must supply their own booth structures. There are four types of booth spaces available. About half of all booths have electricity. If you are assigned one of these booths an additional $50 fee will be required.

While every effort is made to honor specific requests, assignments are made on the basis of availability, with re-invited Artists given first priority. Since there is only a limited number of each type of space, specific requests cannot be guaranteed and all Artists are urged to list a first, second and third preference.
Artist Timeline

March 15, 2014 (latest application deadline)

Application, images, jury fee due.

April 2014

Jury results emailed.

May 1, 2014

$675 Deposit due.

May 31, 2014

Space assignments mailed along with bill for any remaining booth fees.

July 15, 2014

Artist/Sponsor Party

July 16-19, 2014

The 46th Annual State Street Area Art Fair

July 19, 2014

Wrap-up Party at the Michigan Theater

WAIT-LISTED ARTISTS
Follow schedule for new Artists. In the event space becomes available, Artist will be notified and $675 deposit will be cashed.